Google Maps For iOS

Google has released its Maps app for the iPhone, in the wake of complaints about Apple's software.
Apple controversially replaced the search giant's mapping service with its own when it released its latest handset, the iPhone 5.
The move was widely criticized after numerous mistakes were found in Apple Maps's search results.
Google's app introduces functions previously restricted to Android devices.
One analyst said it would prove popular, but added that Nokia still posed a challenge.
The Finnish company recently launched its own free maps app for the iPhone.
The firms are motivated in part by a desire to gather data automatically generated by handsets using their respective software, as well as users' own feedback.
This allows them to fine-tune their services and improve the accuracy of features such as traffic status updates.Android's advantageFeatures Google has introduced that were not available in its earlier iPhone app include:

• Voice guided turn-by-turn directions, with estimated travel times.

• Indoor panoramic images of buildings that have signed up to its Street View Business Photos service

• 3D representations of the outlines of buildings that can be viewed from different angles

• Vector-based graphics based on mathematical lines and points rather than pre-created bitmap graphics, making it quicker to zoom in and out of an area.

Among the facilities Google's iPhone app lacks that are present in its Android equivalent are indoor maps, the ability to download maps for offline viewing, and voice search.
However, over time, project manager Kai Hansen told the BBC that what was on one platform should be on the other.
"The goal is clearly to make it as unified and consistent an experience as possible," he said.